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A big month for disaster resilience in the post-2015 development agenda

It is a big month for disaster resilience. On the 9th-10th October, Ministers of Development and Finance gather in Japan for the Sendai Dialogue, where Jim Kim (World Bank), Jun Azumi (Japan’s Finance Minister) and Christine Lagarde (IMF) will be among those considering how to build disaster resilience in ‘at risk’ countries. The 13th October is International Day for Disaster Reduction, with the focus being on the role that women and girls play in forging resilience and from the 22nd – 25th October, a large turnout is expected in Yogyakarta, Indonesia for the 5th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

While such profile is refreshing for those working to manage disaster risk, the reality is the future of disaster losses looks bleak, at least in the short-to-medium term. As Niger, Nigeria and other Sahel countries battle their worst flooding in decades after a period of serious drought, many now recognise that climate change is make hot days hotter, heavy rain heavier and altering the timing of previously predictable seasons. While direct impacts on the poor and vulnerable are serious, indirect impacts through higher food prices, resulting from severe drought affected US grain production, might be even worse.

Disaster resilience must therefore become a priority for the post-2015 development agenda, in whatever form it takes. If not, by 2030 economic growth will be severely undermined and poverty may well be rising rather than getting to zero.

Two new reports from ODI highlight the critical opportunity for integrating disaster resilience across emerging international policy frameworks and the set of options for including it in post-2015 goals.

This paper aims to introduce some practical realism to the current debates about ‘resilience’ which are increasingly dominating thinking about development, climate change adaptation and humanitarian aid.

This Briefing Paper considers what is needed to strengthen the management of disaster risk over the next two decades and strategies to embed disaster risk management in the international policy frameworks to achieve this.

This Background Note looks at research undertaken in recent years by disaster researchers on the complex role of institutional arrangements in shaping policy decisions. In doing so it identifies some key research issues that need to be addressed to promote the kind of institutional transformation required to deal with current and future climate extremes, including the need for more multidisciplinary perspectives on disaster risk management (DRM).

This Background Note explores the concept of 'resilience' in relation to framing current thinking about sustainable futures and investigates whether a common definition and understanding can be reached and whether resilience can be translated into a practical set of tools and approaches.